I doubt they will buy Blackberry, especially after acquiring Nokia. They pretty much have what they need in my opinion with Nokia. I wouldn't be against them doing it, to bolster their prescence in the phone market even more, but I can't see it happening. If they didn't have Nokia, I'd say it would be a strong possibility, but not now.

Definitely No - Don't buy. They have the hardware side with Nokia. They already have their own software and services side. BBM would be a distraction and duplication, and infrastructure wise doesn't fit where Microsoft is now and is going in the future.

The Blackberry user base that "tags along" with that purchase is a support and PR nightmare for any purchaser. They will be vocal and adamant about keeping the Blackberry way - those Nokia people who are up in arms are nothing compared to the howls and demands and entitlement the Blackberry users will try to impose.

Frankly, Microsoft doesn't need them, Apple doesn't need them, Google doesn't need them. I don't think their IP is at all valuable or worthwhile to any of those three, or else Blackberry would have already gone there.

HP, however, if they are truly trying to work back into mobile, could be a match. Its exactly the kind of purchase that fits HP's previous acquisitions.......

The job cut is to make the company more attractive to potential suitors, and Microsoft is one. There is a lot for Microsoft to like if the price is right. It would bring a nice bit of market share, and since the biggest BB market segment is business customers, and most use Windows products on their laptops/desktops, a buyout of BB could be used to evolve their user base into WP users (probably take a generation or two of transitional BB OS to bridge the gap to WP).